A Better Home Awaiting
by Cardinal001
Summary: Carrying on from the end of BioShock Infinite - massive spoilers if you haven't already completed the game so be warned.


**Warning: MASSIVE spoilers if you haven't finished the game. But if you're reading this I guess you have so do please continue.**

**Disclaimer: Bioshock Infinite is not owned by me.**

**A Better Home Awaiting**

"Booker, are you sure this is what you want?"

"It's the only way to undo what I've done to you."

I gently moved Elizabeth's hand away from the door. It had to be done. Comstock had to die before he could cause so much pain and misery. And if that meant killing him as a baby, well, I'd already killed hundreds and sold my own daughter into slavery, what was this but one more sin?

I took a deep breath and pushed the door open... and found myself back at the river. Only this time the preacher was alone. There was no circle of people surrounding him. I turned to Elizabeth in confusion.

"What is this? Why are we back here?" I asked her. I noticed her face. It looked... sad.

"This isn't the same place, Booker," she replied. There was none of the usual liveliness in her voice.

I was adamant. "Of course it is! I remember..." I trailed off as someone walked up to stand beside Elizabeth. I could not believe what I was seeing. It was another Elizabeth! This time wearing her corset just as she had when I rescued her from Comstock's laboratory.

"Wait..." I stammered," You're not... Who are you?"

Another Elizabeth appeared, and another, and another, all wearing different clothing. One was wearing the shirt and scarf from when I first met her, another had a straighter hairstyle, yet another had bloodied clothing from when she killed Daisy Fitzroy. One by one they started to speak in turn.

"You chose to walk away."

"But in other oceans, you didn't."

"You took the baptism."

"And you were born again as a different man."

The realisation struck me like a bolt of lightning. "Comstock," I whispered.

And finally, I understood. I understood everything. Why I had been sent to Columbia, why I had been chosen to find Elizabeth, why all of this was happening. Why I was here, now. All the different possibilities came together and at that moment I knew who I was.

I was Comstock. Comstock was me.

And Comstock had to die.

The Elizabeths were speaking again. My mind was in turmoil as I struggled to listen to their words.

"It all has to end."

"To have never started."

"Not just in this world,"

"But in all of ours."

"Smother him in the crib..." Those words were spoken by me. It was the only way.

"Smother... smother... smother... smother..." The Elizabeths repeated.

"Before the choice is made."

"Before you are reborn." That last was spoken by the Elizabeth I had come to know. The light had completely gone out of her eyes to be replaced by a look of determination. She knew what had to be done. What she had to do.

I dimly heard the preacher behind me finishing his speech, "And what name shall you take, my son?"

"He is Zachary Comstock," An older Elizabeth firmly took hold of my right arm.

"He is Booker DeWitt," A younger Elizabeth took my left arm.

"No." I looked straight at "my" Elizabeth, "I'm both."

Elizabeth came forward and pushed me under the water, pressing down on my chest so that my air would leave my body quicker.

I kept my eyes fixed on her. The look of determination in her eyes was slowly replaced by a look of sorrow. I felt the water invade my lungs and my vision started to fade. This was it. I was finally paying for my sins.

My Elizabeth.

No, my daughter Anna.

I love you.

…

I woke up. I was back at my office, sitting at my desk. The date was 8th October 1893. What had happened? Had it all been a dream? I heard music playing from the room next door.

"Anna?" The word spilled from my lips almost without conscious thought. My mind cleared and I rushed to the door. I hesitated before opening it. Would she be there? Would the crib be empty? I finally pushed the door open.

"Anna? Is that you?"

The crib was empty.

It was too much. I crashed to the floor, my legs no longer able to support me. My eyes filled with tears as rage and grief finally broke inside me.

"Anna!" I cried out.

"She's not here."

The voice came from behind me. A female voice. One that sounded very familiar. I turned.

"Elizabeth?" I said, hardly daring to believe it.

"She's not here yet. But she will be."

It was indeed Elizabeth. She really was standing right here in my office, looking down at the floor.

"You drowned me..." It was the only thing I could think to say.

Elizabeth finally looked up. I gasped as she met my eyes. Streaks of tears stained her cheeks and, as I watched, more tears fell down her face. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I'm so, so sorry."

I did the first thing that came to mind. I wrapped my arms tightly around her, stroking her hair. "It's okay," I whispered to her, "It's alright, you did what had to be done." I felt her arms around me as she cried into my shirt.

How long we stood like that I can't say. Eventually she lifted her face up to meet mine. "Thank you," she said.

I smiled down at her. Then a thought struck me. "Elizabeth, what are you doing here? Come to think of it, why am I here? I died, I never gave you to Comstock. You shouldn't be here."

Elizabeth drew back and took my hands. "Come with me, there's something I need to show you." She led me to the door of the office and I pushed it open, feeling the familiar wood panelling beneath my hands. Walking through, I was not in the least surprised to see where we were.

We were back at the sea of Doors. The lighthouses stretched in all directions as far as the eye could see, the beacons on top of them shining into the darkness. But something was different this time. Something was wrong.

A storm was raging all around us. Thunder crashed around us and lightning struck the lighthouses. As I watched, one of the structures collapsed into the sea to be swallowed up by the waves, all trace of it obliterated.

"Elizabeth?" I had to raise my voice to be heard above the noise, "What's happening?"

"It's a paradox!" she shouted.

"It's a what?" I shouted back.

"It's a temporal paradox! Reality is collapsing! What we did, what I did, it's causing all of this! Don't you understand?"

"No!" I couldn't get my head around it.

"I killed you! You died before you could become Comstock, but in order for me to be able to kill you, you had to give your child to Comstock so that she could become me! It was impossible to happen but it happened anyway and the universe can't take the strain!"

I was dimly aware of a new noise, a low droning that grew in intensity. As it did so the surroundings brightened with a light that grew brighter and brighter.

"What's going to happen to us?" I shouted to Elizabeth.

"I don't know! I don't know what's going to happen!" Elizabeth's voice broke. She leapt forward and clung to my body. I put my arms around her. She looked up at my face as the light became blinding and the noise became deafening. I heard her words clearly.

"I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Anna," I replied, calling her by her real name for the first time as we were engulfed by the light. She started singing softly. I could just make out the words but the song was oh so familiar.

"Will the circle be unbroken? Bye and bye, bye and bye. There's a better home awaiting in the sky, in the-"

…

December 31st 1899

"Daddy! Daddy! This way!"

The little girl pulled on my hand as she led me through the crowds. I smiled down at her. Anna had always said she wanted to go to Paris, as adamant and demanding as a six-year old could be. When I told her that we would be going to Paris for New Year's Eve, well, the look on her face made the expensive cost worth it.

"Daddy! Look! A candy stall!" She pointed to a stall selling candy floss, chocolate and other sweets. "Can I go get some?" She gave me her best big eyes, the ones I could never say no to.

"Of course, but only if your big sister goes with you." I turned to the third member of our little party – a taller girl, nineteen years old and tremendously beautiful. My older daughter. I had the feeling that I would soon have to fend off potential suitors. Elizabeth – named for my grandmother – smiled as she adjusted her white blouse and blue scarf, which was held together by a pin with a silhouette of a bird.

"Can we go Big Sister? Please?" Anna used her pet name for Elizabeth.

"Of course we can, Little Sister," Elizabeth replied. Anna eagerly took her hand and together they made their way to the stall. Big sister and little sister, so alike and yet so different. I shook my head and grinned to myself. I felt someone suddenly brush past me. I looked down to the ground and saw a coin glinting in the light. I looked back up. Two people – a man and a woman wearing similar brown clothing – were walking away from me.

"Excuse me?" I called after them. They stopped and turned. I was surprised at how alike they looked. Surely they must be twins. I picked up the coin and held it up. "I think you dropped something!"

"How kind of you sir." The man responded in a clipped British accent. The woman held out her hand and I flipped the coin across to her. She caught it.

"Thank you very much." She spoke with the same accent as the man. Definitely twins.

I nodded to them both. "Happy New Year!" They had already gone. Vanished into the crowd.

"There you are!" said a voice behind me. I turned and smiled as my wife came up to me. Wearing a blue flowing dress with a short blue jacket over the top and a black hat with a white flower and blue bow, she looked every bit as beautiful as the day I met her. "Where are the girls?" she asked.

"They went to get some candy," I replied.

"Well they'd better hurry up – the fireworks are starting soon," she responded.

"Let's go and find them." I held out my arm to her and she looped her own arm through it. Together we went to meet up with our two daughters.

…

"What was it?"

"What was what?"

"The coin."

"Oh." Rosalind Lutece opened her hand and looked down at the coin. She looked up at her brother Robert. "Tails."

"Told you." he said, the barest hints of a smug grin at the corner of his mouth. Rosalind shrugged and watched Booker DeWitt and his wife walk away.

"Do you think he's happy?" Robert asked.

"He should be, after all the effort we put in to get him this life." Rosalind replied. She looked over to her brother and raised an eyebrow. "Lady Comstock? Was that really necessary? And two daughters?"

"Is there a problem with that?" Robert asked.

"Well doesn't it just seem a bit too... perfect? A bit too much of a happy ending?"

Robert shrugged. "With everything we put him through I felt like we owed him something." He smirked at Rosalind. "Anyway I didn't hear you complaining."

"I just wanted to see if it could be done." Rosalind sniffed. "Anyway shouldn't we be going?"

"Where to?"

"Rapture, New Year's Eve 1958? You always love that particularly unique atmosphere."

"Mmm, as long as we leave before the riots break out. You know how messy that gets."

They linked arms and walked through the mass of people until they were swallowed up while above brightly coloured fireworks lit up the night sky as 1900 began.

For one family at least it looked like it would be a very good year.

**-The End-**

* * *

**A/N: I loved this game and everything about this game, but I couldn't just leave it where it finished. This story pretty much came into my head fully formed. And yes it probably is a perfect happy ending with everything just right and I know that may not sit well with some people but hey, isn't that what fanfiction is for? I'm sure someone will enjoy it anyway.**


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